it's like watching a car crash in slow motion.... you know what's about to happen, but you can't look away!

Seriously dude, you have had so many people giving you sound advice, yet you chose to do it your way. Even the guys at the field tried to help you out, but you ignored their advice too (what kind of nutter handlaunches his own potentially marginal plane on maiden??). It was a BAD handlauch, and you might still have had a plane if you let the other guy launch it. He probably didn't even need to run. A slight upward launch, it may have sagged towards the ground, but with both hands on the sticks, you would have had a chance to either catch it or land it gently.

I feel your pain sherlock but you are hilarious
I been there but I didn't have anyone to give me help in the early days. Listen to the guys on this thread......save yourself money and give us another EDF flyer.

this guy did it too, with running.

if someone ran off of the brooklyn bridge, would you?
i guess the point is this....9 out of 10 times running whilst hand launching is counter-productive.
what little you gain in initial speed, you lose in acuracy of the launch angle and throwing speed.

for a successful hand lauch, give it full throttle, a hard LEVEL toss and let it build as much airspeed as possible. then, when the model is close to the ground only then should you give it up elevator....and gentle at that. if you jerk the stick, you run the risk of stalling the elevator.

The HET F16 was most likely a LOT lighter than yours. Look, I have a Starmax foamy Panther that I can throw about 45 degrees up, but it's very light, has a lot of wing area, and adequate power.

Your planes tend to be very heavy because of the motor and batteries you use. Therefore, you need a FLAT take off angle. This lets you get enough airflow over the wings to give you the lift you need. Power alone doesn't do it. It's a combination of power, wing area, angle of attack, thrust available, etc.

Just as rule of thumb, you can't go wrong launching FLAT. But in your case, I suggest a dolly, bungee or landing gear. Hell, if your grass is very smooth, you can even try rising right off the grass, on the belly. This is not recommended usually, however, because of the danger of ingesting foreign objects into the fan.

This reminds me of 20 years ago in Juneau, Alaska. I go to the local fave RC hangout: Eagle Beach.. and I see this guy doing crazy aerobatics. Kinda like first generation 3d flying... I think to myself "damn that guys pretty good!"...Then he wrecks! Ooops! I walk up to the guy and start shooting the #$%t and ask him about his plane and flying? He says that's like the 2nd time he's ever flown and I'm like "so where's your instructor?" he says, "I'm doing it on my own..."!!!! DOH! That's when I realized this guys not a good aerobatic pilot; this guys outta control!! Well Sherlock... your outta control bro;-)... do yourself a favor: BUNGEE!!! Trust me dude, listen to others that have walked in your steps! Keep the vids coming though... funniest stuff I've seen in ages here!;-)
Z

I just came up with a great idea!!!

Since I entertain you guys with crashes and fires and everyone can make fun of me and with me, I thought if everyone here just gave me $2-5 bucks each I can get a new jet It will be called crash humor donations and will go to a good cause of ME getting a new JET made of Fiberglass (which I will not handlauch) and put all the screen names of the donators on the jet. I will not be embarrased but I have crashed over 50 planes in the past 4 years. I can fly though, but things just happen. IF 25 members send me $5bucks I can get a new JET

WIFE said the next time you can buy something expensive is when you get a JOB